Nehemiah 13:10

_AND I PERCEIVED THAT THE PORTIONS OF THE LEVITES HAD NOT BEEN GIVEN THEM: FOR THE LEVITES AND THE SINGERS, THAT DID THE WORK, WERE FLED EVERY ONE TO HIS FIELD._ And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them. The people, disgusted with the malversations of Eliashib or the lax and irregular performance of the sacred rites, withheld the tithes, so that the ministers of religion were compelled for their livelihood to withdraw to their patrimonial possessions in the country; the temple services had ceased; all religious duties fallen into neglect; and the money put into the sacred treasury squandered in the entertainment of an Ammonite pagan, an open and contemptuous enemy of God and his people. The return of the governor put an end to these disgraceful and profane proceedings. He administered a sharp rebuke to those priests, to whom the management of the temple a...

10-14 If a sacred character will not keep men from setting an evil example, it must not shelter any one from deserved blame and punishment. The Levites had been wronged; their portions had not been given them. They were gone to get livelihoods for themselves and their families, for their profession would not maintain them. A maintenance not sufficient, makes a poor ministry. The work is neglected, because the workmen are. Nehemiah laid the fault upon the rulers. Both ministers and people, who forsake religion and the services of it, and magistrates, who do not what they can to keep them to it, will have much to answer for. He delayed not to bring the Levites to their places again, and that just payment should be made. Nehemiah on every occasion looked up to God, and committed himself and all his affairs to Him. It pleased him to think that he had been of use to revive and support religi...

Verse Nehemiah 13:10. _THE PORTIONS OF THE LEVITES HAD NOT BEEN GIVEN_] Hence we find they were obliged to abandon the sacred service, and betake themselves to cultivate the land for their support. This was the fault of the _rulers_, who _permitted_ all these abuses....

etc. During Nehemiah’s absence there had been a general falling away, and there was danger of a complete national apostasy....

EXPOSITION NEHEMIAH'S EFFORTS FOR THE REFORM OF RELIGION (Nehemiah 13:1). After having exercised the office of governor for twelve years, from B.C. 444 to B.C. 432, Nehemiah had had occasion to visit the Persian court, either to consult Artaxerxes personally on certain matters connected with his province, or for some other reason unknown to us. During his absence various evil practices, to which some reference has been already made in connection with the renewal of the covenant (Nehemiah 10:30-16), acquired so much strength, and came to such a head, that, on Nehemiah's return to Jerusalem at the expiration of a year (verse 6),

CHAPTER 13 _ 1. The separation of the mixed multitude (Nehemiah 13:1)_ 2. The unholy alliance repudiated (Nehemiah 13:4) 3. Nehemiah's action in behalf of the Levites and singers (Nehemiah 13:10) 4. Provision for Sabbath observance (Nehemiah 13:15) 5. Nehemiah's protest (Nehemiah 13:23) 6. His own testimony as to his work (Nehemiah 13:30)...

SOME DETAILS OF NEHEMIAH'S RULE. This section, taken for the most part from Nehemiah's memoirs, deals with his zeal for the sanctity of the Temple (Nehemiah 13:4), his organisation for the maintenance of the Levites (Nehemiah 13:10), his reform regarding Sabbath observance (Nehemiah 13:15), and his measures against those who had contracted marriages with aliens (Nehemiah 13:23). Nehemiah 13:28 f. contains some concluding words of Nehemiah. When it is remembered that for twelve years he had been working among the people, enforc

ONE-MAN. Hebrew. _'ish_. App-14....

The failure of the people to furnish the due supplies to the Levites; and Nehemiah's reform 10. _the portions of the Levites_ The portion which the people had covenanted to contribute to the Levites (cf. Nehemiah 10:37 ff.) had not been paid. The Levites to escape starvation had dispersed into the country. The Temple services were therefore crippled. Compare the similar rebuke in Malachi 3:7-12. -The Levites" here used for the whole class. _for_ R.V. SO THAT. Their dispersion was the result, not the occasion of non-payment. _the singers_ Under this head, the porters (Nehemiah 13:5) would be included. _every one to his field_ For mention of the country villages -r

3. Support for the Levites is renewed. TEXT, NEHEMIAH 13:10-14 10 I also discovered that the portions of the Levites had not been given them, so that the Levites and the singers who performed the service had gone away, each to his own field. 11 So I reprimanded the officials and said, Why is the house of God forsaken? Then I gathered them together and restored them to their posts. 12 All Judah then brought the tithe of the grain, wine, and oil into the storehouses. 13 And in charge of the storehouses I appointed Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah of the Levites, and in addition to them was Hanan the son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah; for they were considered reliable, and it was their task to distribute to their kinsmen. 14 Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out my loyal deeds which